‘Number of investors’ interested in Chesterfield Hotel

Michael Broomhead

A number of potential investors have expressed an interest in buying the former Chesterfield Hotel, it has emerged.

The prominent Malkin Street building – which has stood empty for over a year and become a magnet for crime – is being marketed by Eddisons Commercial Ltd.

The Leeds-based company has not publicly revealed the sale price of the site – but a new owner would have to be willing to pay business rates of £124,000.

A Chesterfield property investor has told the Derbyshire Times they know of potential buyers who are interested in purchasing the building.

A brochure compiled by Eddisons Commercial Ltd states: “The property comprises a substantial brick built hotel dating from the Victorian period providing accommodation principally over three floors and a basement. The property comprises 73 letting rooms with extensive restaurant, ballroom and function rooms and a leisure suite with a pool. There is on-site parking for about 60 vehicles.”

As reported earlier this month, the company behind Chesterfield Hotel owed creditors almost three quarters of a million pounds before it shut.

The document is dated December 31, 2014, and classes the money as due within a year.

Forty-five members of staff lost their jobs when Chesterfield Hotel shut on January 31, 2015, and workers are currently going through the employment tribunal process over alleged unpaid wages and redundancy payouts.

Meanwhile, customers who were left hundreds of pounds out of pocket when the hotel’s leisure centre closed in 2014 are still wondering when - or if - they will be refunded.

GS Trading VI (Chesterfield) Ltd, which is still listed as an active firm, has always refused to answer the Derbyshire Times’ questions about the unpaid money.

In January, Companies House warned the business that it faced the axe after it failed to file documentation on time.

However, the Government agency discontinued its threat last month after receiving the company’s annual return and accounts.

If the firm had been dissolved, Chesterfield Hotel would have become property of the Crown.

The abandoned building is currently under constant security surveillance and boards cover a number of ground-floor windows which have been smashed by vandals.

Chesterfield Hotel was a major employer and social venue for almost 140 years, making it one of the town’s longest-running businesses.

The exact reason for the hotel’s closure has never been revealed - but the town’s MP Toby Perkins held urgent talks with representatives from the business to discuss various financial problems before it shut.